With the advent of advanced global communication, new forms of social contract can be created which transcend the geographic state. These new cybercoops or cyberstates will bring humankind to higher levels of cooperation and understanding.

Israel will only take military action against Iran as "a very last resort" to prevent it acquiring nuclear weapons, Ephraim Sneh, a member of the Israeli parliamentary defence and foreign affairs committee, said yesterday.

He was speaking after a report in the Sunday Times claimed that the inner cabinet of the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, last month gave "initial authorisation" for a combined air and ground attack on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility.

Mr Sneh told Israel's Army Radio: "The Iranian threat is an existential threat to the state of Israel. Military action is the very last resort.

"We have to ensure that other steps, diplomatic steps, are carried out first. Here the United States plays a leading role and I hope it will fulfil it."

The Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, warned in London last month that time was running out and Iran could have a uranium enrichment capability - the key to building a nuclear weapon - within six months. The US and European assessments are that it will take Iran longer than this.

Vice President Cheney said yesterday that Iran is a top threat to world peace and Middle East stability, accusing Tehran of sponsoring terrorism against Americans and building a "fairly robust new nuclear program."

In an interview aired on MSNBC's "Imus in the Morning" show a few hours before President Bush's inaugural address, Cheney warned that Israel "might well decide to act first" militarily to eliminate Iran's nuclear capabilities if the United States and its allies fail to solve the standoff with Tehran diplomatically.